WEBVTT O'BRIEN: WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FACT," WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER IN SOUTH TEXAS. HIDALGO COUNTY HAS BE AT THE CENTER OF THE DEBATE OVER IMMIGRATION FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY. BORDER CROSSINGS BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL ARE PART OF DAILY LIFE THERE, SO NOW TWO PERSPECTIVES, ON THE IMPACT, ONE FROM THE BORDER PATROL CHIEF, WHO SAYS HE NEEDS A WALL TO STOP A CRISIS, AND ONE ONE FROM THE MAYOR OF McALLEN, TEXAS, WHO SAYS THIS ISSUE IS BEING POLITICIZED B PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT IN WASHINGTON, D. MAN: JUST WATCH YOUR STEP RIGHT HERE. O'BRIEN: MANUEL PADILLA KNOWS EACH TWIST AND TURN OF THIS STRETCH OF THE RIO GRANDE IN HIDALGO COUNT HE'S THE BORDER PATROL CHIEF OF THE BUSIEST CROSSING POINT F UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN THE SOUTHWEST. PADILLA: YESTERDAY WE HAD OVER 800 APPREHENSIONS. O'BRIEN: SMUGGLERS WATCH FROM ACROSS THE NARROW STRETCH OF RIVER, WAITING TO BRING ANOTHER GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS ACROSS. PADILLA: THEY LIKELY WILL NOT CROSS AS LONG AS WE'RE HERE. AS SOON AS WE MOVE, THEY WILL COME BACK IN AN HOUR. SO THE RIVER IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER FOR THEM O'BRIEN: THE SMUGGLERS ARE PERSISTENT BECAUSE THIS IS BIG BUSINESS PADILLA: EVERY PERSON--AGAIN, THE GRAND TOTAL THAT EVERY PERSON PAYS, WHETHER IT'S A 5-MONTH-OLD CHILD OR AN ADULT, IT'S $4,00 WHAT HAPPENED? 5 IN CUSTODY? OK. GOOD. MAN: THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT BACK SOUTH. PADILLA: GOOD. O'BRIEN: PADILLA'S AGENTS PATROL THIS REGION 7 DAYS WEEK, 24 HOURS A DAY, EVEN IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT. WOMAN ON RADIO: GO AHEAD. MAN: I'M HERE BY BORDER 28 ON MY MOBILE. O'BRIEN: THE SEARCH IS SLOW, HAMPERED BY THE DENSE VEGETATION THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO WALK AND IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE EVEN A FEW FEET AHEAD. PADILLA: IT'S A HUGE HIDE-AND-SEEK GAME IN TRYING TO MAKE THESE APPREHENSIONS. O'BRIEN: PADILLA SAYS HE NEE A PERMANENT BARRIER ACROSS THIS ENTIRE STRETCH OF THE BORDER. PADILLA: ONCE YOU ERECT THE WALL SYSTEM AND THE TECHNOLOGY, ALL THIS STUFF GOES AWAY. O'BRIEN: ACCORDING TO PADILLA, THE FENCE WILL ALSO HELP KEEP OUT A LARGE NUMBER OF FAMILIES WHO MAKE THE DANGEROUS JOURNEY, OFTEN WITH THEIR SMALL CHILDREN, AND ONCE THEY CROSS THE BORDER, MANY IMMEDIATELY TURN THEMSELVES IN TO BORDER AGENT PADILLA: SO WE ENCOUNTER THEM, WE PROCESS THEM, AND THEN TURN THEM OVER TO ANOTHER AGENCY, BUT WE'RE TREATING THEM HERE AS REFUGEES BECAUSE THE INITIAL CLAIM OF ASYLUM, OF CREDIBLE FEAR. THAT IMPACTS BORDER SECURITY BECAUSE THERE' A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT SPENT ON DEALING WITH THIS POPULATIO THAT IS NOT RUNNING AWAY. THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO AVOID THE BORDER PATRO O'BRIEN: BUT THE MAYOR OF McALLEN, TEXAS, THE LARGEST CITY IN HIDALGO COUNTY, SAYS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO PROVIDE A HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE INSTEAD OF A LA ENFORCEMENT ONE. JIM DARLING: I'VE ALWAYS SAID THEY OUGHT TO SEND SOCIAL WORKERS DOWN HERE TO PROCESS PEOPLE BECAUSE ABOUT 80%--A LITTLE OVER 80% OF AL THE ILLEGAL ENTRIES ARE REALLY PEOPLE SEEKING ASYLUM. O'BRIEN: THE MAYOR ADMITS SOME OF THOSE CROSSING THE BORDER ARE CRIMINALS. ACCORDING TO GOVERNMENT STATS, LESS THAN OF IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE APPREHENDED AT THE BORDER WERE CRIMINALS, BUT EVEN SO, MAYOR DARLING SAYS HIS TOWN ISN'T IMPACTED. DARLING: WE'RE THE SAFEST CITY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, SEVENTH IN THE UNITED STATES. O'BRIEN: IS THAT RIGHT? DARLING: THAT'S WHAT'S SO HURTING TO US, YEAH. O'BRIEN: TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IS IT LIKE LIVI IN A BORDER TOWN. HOW FAR ARE WE FROM THE BORDER RIGHT NOW? DARLING: WE'RE 6 MILES. SO WE'RE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. WE'RE NOT RIGHT ON THE BORDER LIKE LAREDO OR BROWNSVILLE, AND I THINK THAT'S BEEN ONE OF OUR BENEFITS FROM A STANDPOINT OF PEOPLE COMING FROM MEXICO T SHOP. THEY WANT TO GO TO AN ALL-AMERICAN CITY. O'BRIEN: SO YOU HAVE A FAIR AMOUNT OF TOURISM COMING IN FROM MEXICO--FROM MEXICANS WHO WANT TO SHOP HERE, AND THEN THEY GO BACK HOME? DARLING: YEAH. WE WERE--UNTIL ABOUT 2 OR 3 YEARS AGO, WE WERE THE NUMBER ONE SALES TAX COLLECTOR IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND ABOUT 20 TIMES HIGHER THAN THE AMERICAN AVERAGE. O'BRIEN: SO HOW DOES IT WORK? EXPLAIN TO ME SORT OF TH DYNAMICS OF THE BORDER FOR FOLKS IN McALLEN. DARLING: ONE OF THE THINGS, WE OWN A COUPLE OF INTERNATIONAL BRIDGES, SO WE HAVE ABOUT 8,000 PEOPLE WO COME ACROSS EVERY DA WALKING AND DOING BUSINESS AND SHOPPING AND OWNING SHOPS AND WORKING, ET CETERA, AND SO WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO WHAT HAPPENS IN MEXICO. I WOULD SAY WHAT HAPPENS THERE HAPPENS TO US A LOT ON THE BORDER. O'BRIEN: WHAT DOES WASHINGTON GET WRONG ABOUT THE BORDER DARLING: OH, I THINK--WELL, I THINK THE REST OF THE NATION DOES FOR ONE THING. I MEAN, THEY JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES. FOR ONE THING, THEY THINK IT'S VERY DANGEROUS. THE STATE DEPARTMENT RANKS RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER AS CATEGORY 4. THAT'S THE SAME THING AS SYRIA. I DON'T THINK I LIVE RIGHT NEXT TO SYRIA, BUT THE STATE DEPARTMENT DOES. O'BRIEN: MR. MAYOR, THANKS FOR TALKING WITH US. WE APPRECIATE IT. THANKS FOR HAVING US IN YOUR CI

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TROOPS AT THE BORDER: A STUNT OR A NECESSARY PRECAUTION?

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Updated: 9:51 AM EST Dec 29, 2018

The third government shutdown of 2018 now appears it won’t be resolved until a new Congress enters the House in the new year. As the federal government fights over how much funding to give to the president’s border wall, Soledad O’Brien takes an up close look at the lives of those who live in the shadow of the wall on the southern border. We get two perspectives, one from a border patrol chief, the other from the mayor of McAllen, TX.

The third government shutdown of 2018 now appears it won’t be resolved until a new Congress enters the House in the new year. As the federal government fights over how much funding to give to the president’s border wall, Soledad O’Brien takes an up close look at the lives of those who live in the shadow of the wall on the southern border. We get two perspectives, one from a border patrol chief, the other from the mayor of McAllen, TX.